The sensational movie “Top Gun: Maverick” featured the awe-inspiring and state-of-the-art hypersonic Dark Star aircraft. Top Gun was trending at the box office, and the inclusion of this Dark-Star concept was one of the main reasons for its popularity among aviation enthusiasts. It should be worth noting that the structural concept of the Dark-star hypersonic jet has been devised by the phenomenal crew of Lockheed Martin, i.e., the Skunk Works team.
The breathtaking setting of this incredible hypersonic Dark-Star aircraft was displayed in the starting scenes of the movie. Tom Cruise, who played the role of Pete “Maverick” Mitchell, was seen performing his duties as a test pilot for the US Navy. This hypersonic Dark Star aircraft presents a remarkable resemblance to the previous aircraft designs by Lockheed Martin, i.e., the SR-71, SR-72, and U-2 spy planes.
The divisional engineers of the team have given the aircraft a magnificent structural look by embracing it with a gorgeous cockpit. However, the producers of this worth-watching film said that they have intentionally made a small modification to the structural configuration of this stealth aircraft. They said they have lowered the aircraft a little bit so that it can look “sleeker and faster” in the movie. The conceptual designer, “Jim”, stated in the video that the producers of the film had no doubt in taking assistance from Lockheed Martin’s “Skunk Works team” for the Dark-star concept as the company had already excelled in designing the models for such types of aircraft.
Just for your information, I would like to add a few cents on hypersonic aircrafts. They can travel at a speed of more than Mach 5 and are also equipped with the capability of hypersonic missiles. It is believed to be the most difficult task to intercept these missiles because of their extreme maneuverability at such a high speed. The reason for explaining the concept is that the Dark-Star jet is also hypersonic, which makes it one of the fastest jets, as also demonstrated in the video.
Hence, the aesthetics depicted by the Dark Star in the movie are surreal, and a standing ovation should be presented to the Lockheed Martin Skunk Work engineers for this jaw-dropping design.